The Aarch diaries
by FemaleSpock
Summary: Rocket is staying at Aarch’s house for the summer because his parents have gone on a second honeymoon, he goes snooping through Aarch’s stuff and finds Aarch’s diary from when he was 16. Contains past Aarch/Artegor
1. Chapter 1

The diary of Aarch

**Disclaimer: I don't own Galactik football and I make no money off this fic. **

**I was reminded of how much I love Aarch/Artegor recently by Wildcard's Icarus Ascending (it's brilliant, go read it!), so this fic was born!**

"Bye Rocket, I'll be back in a few hours" Aarch called closing the door. Rocket had been waiting for this moment ever since he had come to Aarch's house a week ago. Until this moment he hadn't been left alone but now he had the house to himself. Rocket knew that his father had thrown away every piece of evidence that he was ever away, after he had lost his leg, but Aarch was bound to have lots of football goodies stored away in his attic.

Making sure Aarch had gone, Rocket walked up the creaky steps into the attic. It was filled with dust and cobwebs, Rocket coughed a little as the he inhaled a mouth of dust air. He carefully rummaged through the stuff, he soon found a book with "Aarch's diary: age 16" written on the front of it, Rocket knew that Aarch had been 16 when he was picked for the Akillian team so this looked promising. Rocket felt a slight twinge of guilt- this was after all a diary, but he cast the guilt aside with the fact Aarch had said he was welcome to use anything in the house he wanted, and besides the diary probably only contained stuff about football….

**Please review! I think that Rocket is perhaps being a bit out of character, and I couldn't think of a good title, so tell me what you think… Next chapter soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

The Aarch diaries chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. and I make no money on this fanfic.**

**Okay, so I changed the title, thanks to wildcard for the suggestion, and thank you to all those people who reviewed.**

**Anyway what's written in Aarch's diary will be **_italics _**and Rocket's thoughts will be in regular font.**

Rocket opened the diary slowly and was encouraged to find the opening page had football stickers and a picture of a famous Rykers player during Aarch's day. "See it's definitely about football" Rocket thought to himself, so he started to read…

_4__th__ September_

_Hi diary, it's me Aarch! That's seriously weird to write; from now on I won't give this diary a greeting. Anyways I got this diary today because it's my 16__th__ birthday today! Happy birthday to me! Anyway Artegor gave it to me so that I can record everything that happens when I finally become a footballer, since I'm now 16 and tryouts are in three weeks I'm hoping I can quit school and join the team._

_Anyway, back to my birthday party, I invited Artegor and Adium round to my house and we just chilled a bit and played some games, of course Norata was there being a pest as usual, he thinks he's so clever always quoting philosophers and stuff...well he isn't!_

Rocket laughed at this point, it was hard to imagine his father spouting philosophies and he wondered what else Norata used to do when he was younger.

_Anyway, it was a pretty good birthday despite Norata being a pain in the neck. But now I have a problem, it's Artegor's birthday in a week and I don't know what to get him, I've failed him on the present front many times and it's his 16__th__ so I want to get him something really special…_

_12__th__ September_

_Okay, so I know I'm supposed to write in this diary everyday but I got side tracked. So, it was Artegor's birthday yesterday and as per usual his parents threw him a massive birthday party, they invited practically every kid in our school. Artegor would rather have a small gathering but his parents insist that he needs to socialise more, because of this the Nexus wild parties have become infamous the neighbours complain practically every year and usually at least one person gets completely drunk. _

_But after the party was over (at about 2 in the morning) and everyone else had gone home, Artegor and I had our customary 'collapse on the sofa and watch random DVDs fest' , we always did this after Artegor's party and although he never says as much, I can tell this is what he considers his real birthday party. The DVD we watched was about some girl who discovers she has magical powers, but we didn't really watch it, we pretty much just talked all the way through. Most people don't know it but Artegor has a really good sense of humour, the problem is that it takes Artegor a long time to warm up to someone so most people don't bother trying to be his friend, but he is the most loyal friend you could ever have._

_I almost forgot- his present! I wasn't really sure what to get him and I was in a complete panic until I saw the perfect thing in the window of the Akillian eyewear shop, a pair of really cool sunglasses- they were designer and sooo expensive but I knew they'd be perfect for Artegor, his eyes are very sensitive to light and he loves cultivating the mysterious, aloof, look. And as I predicted he loved them, he practically cried he was so happy (okay so I'm exaggerating, Artegor wouldn't actually cry about a present, but still). I'm exhausted so I'll have to stop writing and I've got school tomorrow...Urgh_

It was weird for Rocket to think that Artegor and Aarch were once so close and then compare it to how bitter the rivalry had been between them until Artegor had been cured of his smog poisoning.

_13__th__ September_

_It was a rubbish day at school today, I wish I could just quit; I hope that I will be picked to play football so I can escape this misery. I mean today we had Physics, Chemistry, Biology and double maths- are they deliberately trying to torture me? At least I sit next to Artegor for Chemistry and Maths; he is really good at that stuff and always helps me. Unfortunately Norata is also in my chemistry class and he passed a note around saying that I was in love with Adium! I seriously hate him at the moment, how could he make up lies about his own brother he said it was revenge for the time I put a frog in his bed but that was ages ago, couldn't he let bygones be bygones? Well I will have my sweet revenge, I'll ask Artegor to help me, he always manages to get back at people without getting caught….._

Rocket was quite surprised again to think of his father, Artegor and Aarch being so young and petty, he was getting a distinctly odd and disconnected feeling whilst reading it as if these people were fictional instead people he actually knew, but he was hooked, he continued to read…

**Sorry that nothing particularly interesting happens in this chapter, but something exciting will probably happen in the next one (maybe, who know?) I know that in flashbacks Aarch and Norata are usually very happy and supportive of each other, but they are kids so surely they might have some sibling rivalry? Please review and tell me what you think…**


	3. Chapter 3

The Aarch diaries chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. and I make no money from doing this.**

_14__th__ September_

_Ermmm, nothing remotely interesting happened today at school, Artegor was at an interview for one of the top 6__th__ form colleges, so I couldn't plot Norata's demise and the lessons were boring without Artegor helping me to understand. I feel a little miserable at the thought of him going off to college and leaving me. I really want us to go and play football together, he loves football as much as I do but he also has a good shot at an academic career. I know I'm being selfish, that I hold him back from reaching his potential but I think at least in some ways I help him with socializing and stuff. At least that's what I'd like to think._

_15__th__ September_

_Guess what? I got my revenge on Norata and it was priceless! The plan was successfully completed. It was Artegor's idea; it was simple but devious, after all Norata is terrified of spiders. Anyway what we did was we put a fake spider on a spring into his locker (I guessed his locker combination, his birthday, how obvious is that?) and then we waited…_

_We were hiding by the stairway when he stated coming down the corridor, he was flouncing around and clearly showing off in front of that girl from the drama club, what was her name again, Keira? Anyway so he was casually opening his locker trying to look cool, but as soon as he opened it the spider sprung into his face causing him to scream loudly (and rather girlishly) and fall right on his backside. Everyone in the hall way was staring at him and Keira looked unimpressed by him. Artegor and I were killing our selves laughing by this point so we had to quietly sneak away so he didn't see us. It was a classic moment; I wish I had got it on tape!_

_On a side note, Artegor was wearing the sunglasses today, he got ridiculed by one of the teachers for wearing them indoors but he continued wearing them, I think he really likes them!_

_16__th__ September_

_I'm in soooo much trouble with my dad, Norata just assumed it was me who pulled the prank (okay it was me but he had no evidence!) and my dad made me do extra chores. Stupid Norata, what a sneaky little tell tale! Oh well at least he's now the butt of everyone's jokes at school, that helps soothe my pain. Artegor's so lucky he's an only child._

_19__th__ September_

_Okay so I forgot to write for a few days, is it a crime? But anyway I had a great PE lesson today! Our PE teacher split us into our class into two teams and we played against each other. Artegor and I were on the blue team and naturally were a great striker team, Norata was on the red team which had its fair share of awful players. Anyway we slaughtered the other team! That girl, Keira was playing goalie for the Red team but she was useless, she didn't block any of our shots, I don't know what Norata sees in such a bad football player!_

"Hey! That's my mother you're talking about!" Rocket shouted at the book, his anger notwithstanding, he continued to read…

_So we won 4-1, their only goal was scored by Norata who was looking unhappy with his useless team, I scored two goals and Artegor scored two, this bodes well for the football tryout which is in 6 days!!!!!!!! I can't wait, this is my big opportunity, I can just imagine it Artegor and I playing the biggest names in the league: the Rykers, the Pirates, the Lightenings, the shadows… And not only playing but winning as well! I hope I get in; I really want this, so much!_

This was a feeling Rocket knew well, the feeling of being desperate to play to escape the normal life.

_25__th__ September_

_I didn't have time to write, I was practicing like crazy, but anyway I'm sure you want to hear the story of the tryouts… Well I'm going to tell it anyway!_

_So I went with Artegor, Norata and Adium to the Akillian football stadium where we met with the coach of the Akillians, he gave us a lecture for about ten minutes but I didn't really hear all of it I was too excited! So then he took us to the pitch and we showed our skills, dribbling etc. you know all the regular stuff…_

"They clearly hadn't invented holo trainers in those days" Rocket thought, finding it oddly funny.

_So then he had us shoot goals and defend against the current Akillian team, I have to say it was an honour to meet them even if they had never made it to the final 16. But anyway I played my best and I scored against their goal keeper! So after all the trials they deliberated for ages, it was so nerve-wracking. But I made it! I was so happy when he read out my name, but guess what? Artegor, Norata and Adium have all made it too. In my happiness I instinctually reached over and hugged Artegor, I've never hugged him before, he has some personal space issues, but the best part is he actually hugged me back! I can just tell that from this point on everything in my life will go okay, I can't wait to start training tomorrow and to hand in my notice to the school that I will be leaving. Yes! No more school! I'm doing it! I'm fulfilling my dreams, tomorrow the hard works starts…_

Rocket smiled at his uncle's slightly incoherent response to being selected, it reminded him that Aarch had one been young and inexperienced like him, and he had a feeling the diary would get a lot more interesting from now on…

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed already, please continue to review! If this chapter was bad you can blame my Hinduism mock exam today which didn't go very well, also I find it a little bit difficult to capture Aarch's 'voice' as my personality is more similar to Artegor's (I'm not sure what that says about me though!).** **Next chapter will be up tomorrow or in a couple of days!**


	4. Chapter 4

The Aarch diaries chapter 4

**Disclaimer: same as in previous chapters**

**I had some serious canon issues with this chapter, according to one website I read Norata was a striker and Artegor was a midfielder, another site said that Norata played defence , however I went with Wikipedia and my own assumptions that Artegor was a striker and Norata was attacking midfield (I hope that makes sense).**

_26__th__ September_

_We trained today, it was hard work but so worth it, and it was fun too! We were given rooms in the academy- I'm sharing a room with Artegor- I'm so glad they didn't put me with Norata; I often get automatically put with him just because we are brothers, but not this time! Ooh I should tell you about the people who are on the team and who got what positions! As I hoped I was given the position of striker! And so was Artegor, Norata was given attacking midfield, a girl names Gabby was given midfield (she is aptly named- she talks a lot), Adium is on defence and so is this other boy named Ciaran (he seems nice but a bit shy) and the goal keeper is this girl named Liadan (she's very focused and serious). So that's our team!_

_What we did today was went through plays and did rigorous workouts. My muscles ache but I like the feeling of having done a hard days work. Anyway Norata and Ciaran were put in a room together; I think they will get along okay. Adium was put with Gabby, I think Adium will have a problem sleeping at night because of Gabby's incessant chatter._

_So all in all, a great day, wait I forgot to describe the room, it's bigger than my room at home, it has blue walls and the beds are big and comfy, we also have a holotv and a computer-Super Lucky! Got to go, there's a match on TV._

_28__th__ September_

_I was too exhausted to write yesterday- we've been training again (obviously), the coach is strict but he said I was "coming along well", I think that means I'm making progress. We had a mini-party last night so the team could properly get to know each other, Gabby's a lot of fun, and Ciaran's cool but I find Liadan a bit scary…_

_I wonder if she and Artegor will become friends? They have similar personalities but would that cause a clash?_

_I asked him later what his dream girl was like and he said "I don't have time for girls because I'm too busy with football"_

Rocket smiled at this, he used to think like that as well, how weird having things in common with Artegor Nexus.

_It made me feel happy, because I have seen what love does to a man, just look at Norata- he acts like a complete prat in front of Keira and I would never want that to happen to Artegor- or me for that matter! Football is my only love, and after that dramatic statement, I have to go to sleep. _

_29__th__ of September_

_Hard training as usual, it is weird how used to this I've become in such a short space of time, it feels so natural! It's weird to think that soon we'll be entering the GFC. I hope we get the breath by then or we're toast! I wonder who'll get the breath first. _

_On a side note, after practice Norata's been sneaking off to see Keira (and he thinks we don't know about it), sometimes when I see him clearly not concentrating he has this odd misty look on his face and it's obvious he's thinking about her. Plus he's ALWAYS talking about her, it's always Keira did this or Keira said that, it's getting on my nerves so much._

_Speaking of getting on people's nerves Gabby's managed to seriously annoy Artegor, she made a joke about his hair! This may not seem like a big deal but to Artegor his hair is very important. The joke was: "What's black, spiky and funny looking? Artegor's hair!" it wasn't very funny, but I could tell she wasn't really thinking about it, the girl seems to be afraid of silence! Artegor was pretending not to care, I doubt anyone else noticed anything but I saw his lip twitch slightly and his hand clenched slightly. I could tell that Gabby had made it onto his list of enemies- once you are on the list it is impossible to get off!_

_I told him afterwards in our room that he shouldn't start bearing grudges because it would ruin or team unity._

_He stood up for some reason and there was a strange look in his eyes, he said "Aarch, I'm not going to bear grudges but don't let that one worm her way into your heart, she'll only break it", after that he turned away and we started watching television but his words were playing in my mind, I'm glad that Artegor is watching out for me and I definitely don't want a romance with Gabby, but I feel weird somehow…too much training I guess…_

"Weird," Rocket thought "I wonder what's wrong with him?" Desperate to find out the answer he continued to read.

**Okay, that's it for this chapter! Next chapter soon, by the way does anyone know what match they were playing when the ice age hit Akillian, was it the qualifier for the final 16? Please review, I love all the reviews so far!**


	5. Chapter 5

The Aarch diaries chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. and I make no money from doing this.**

**Thank you to all people who are reviewing! **

_30__th__ September_

_Guess what? You guessed it, more training! I'm not complaining, it sure beats school! I think we are starting to gain team unity, we're starting to work together really well, I can't really explain it, we have started to flow- does that make sense?-probably not._

_I'm alone in the room at the moment, Artegor's snuck off somewhere, I have no idea where, he can be a bit mysterious at times (that's an understatement, he's very mysterious). I went down to the lounge but no one was there, I know where Norata is *cough, Keira's house, cough*, but I have know idea where all the other people are, they all just disappeared into thin air. I think it is a conspiracy against me! It probably isn't but you never know…._

_1__st__ October_

_I asked Artegor where he was yesterday and he said "Out for a walk" it didn't really answer my question but I asked him whether he was with the rest of the team and he wasn't. I wonder what they were all doing?_

_I'm not sure, but I think something may be bothering Artegor, he's not been very talkative recently, not that he's ever Mr. Chatty but still… he seems like he's drifting off in his own bubble, lost in his own thoughts. I hope I'm wrong, I hope he's just feeling slightly contemplative but my gut tells me that something's getting to him, I just don't know what._

_2__nd__ October_

_I have it, I have the breath! It's amazing; I never thought it would come so quickly! We were practicing our shots when all of a sudden I felt this rush of energy, this feeling like I was plugged into an electrical socket (that's not a very good analogy but still). I jumped but I didn't fall right to earth, I stayed floating with the ball, I kicked the ball with such force at the goal, it flew in, it was amazing! I felt so powerful, so sure of myself, I love the feeling. I'm sure the others can get the breath; I'm so looking forward to sharing the experience with them. The cup's going to be our's for the winning! Did I mention how great the breath feels, I'm supposed to go to sleep now, but I feel like I'm buzzing with energy, it's hard to rest! But we have practice tomorrow (when do we ever not have practice) so I will try, plus I don't want to keep Artegor up! _

Rocket smiled remembering his first experience with the breath, he'd felt similar to Aarch at the time, so reading the diary brought a wave of nostalgia over him.

_3__rd__ October_

_Doing training with the breath is so much more exciting and enlivening. I love it! The rest of the team is practically worshipping me, which is nice as well, they're a bit jealous but that's to be expected! I wonder who'll be next to get it? This is so exciting!_

_Did I mention- this is completely unrelated but the food here is really good, it's really tasty! Speaking of that though, Artegor's not been eating much nowadays, he usually has a healthy appetite but now I've seen him eat only small portions. Also he's keeps disappearing for hours on end and he only returns just before lights out, something's definitely bothering him, I wish he would talk to me about it, he can trust me! He's pulling away from society, he's more reserved than usual and I know that's a bad sign. I hope that he will snap out of it, I would ask him what's wrong but I know he wouldn't tell me, he's so secretive, he sees emotions as a sign of weakness! Well that's enough speculation from me, time for bed!_

_4__th__ October_

_Guess what? Another team member has the breath, it's Adium! We were practicing and I went to shoot using the breath, when she shot up and tackled me in the air! Yes, now two team members have it! Soon the entire team will (I may be counting my chickens but you know it's always better to be positive, right?). Artegor's gone again, seriously where does he go? Nothing else particularly significant happened today, so I'm going to the lounge to hang out with the rest of the team._

"Where's Artegor going?" Rocket almost screamed in frustration, he was as agitated as Aarch was at the time, he hoped that he would find the answer in the diary…

**Sorry if this chapter is a bit short, I was having a bit of a mental block, next chapter soon I hope! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

The Aarch diaries chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. And I make no money from this.**

_5__th__ October_

_Two other players have the breath, Ciaran and Norata! This is all happening so fast, I'm secretly quite proud that Norata has it; he's following in my footsteps. Anyway, GO TEAM GO! In other (very important) news we have a friendly match against the Wombas soon! We'll have to train hard in these few days (not that we weren't training hard before!) I really hope we can win; it would be an amazing start to our careers! Now all we need is for Liadan, Gabby and Artegor to get the breath._

_And speaking of Artegor he's disappeared AGAIN! I've figured enough is enough, I have to take action! Okay, this plan has three stages, a. ask the other players where he goes (probably won't work, why would he tell them and not me?), b. ask him myself (he'll probably avoid the question) and the last resort c. follow him and spy on him. I'll put the first part of the plan into action tomorrow._

_6__th__ October_

_We got another! Liadan got the breath. But seriously she has attitude problems, when she got it she was like "it's about time" as if the breath had been late to an appointment or something. Gabby was complaining that she didn't have the breath- if she stopped talking and stopped to take a breath of air maybe she would develop the breath. Artegor didn't say anything on the subject- but I know how badly he wants the breath. In fact he hasn't really said anything for days, sometimes I swear he's staring at me, I feel his eyes singeing my flesh, but when I turn to look he's not looking at me, it's weird._

_Anyway, I carried out part one of my investigation, as predicted it didn't go well. Here are the responses._

_Norata: "I don't know, wouldn't he tell you? He never speaks to me"_

_Adium: "Artegor has never liked me, he just put up with me for your sake because we are friends, so why would I know?"_

_Ciaran:"I don't know, sorry!"_

_Gabby: Oh I know! He's off being emo and writing poetry, no wait I bet he's in a gang, or maybe he's a secret agent, or he's secretly……(I walked away at that point)_

_Liadan: "Don't know, don't care" (seriously, she should at least care for her team mates, I'm starting to really hate her)_

_So all in all, I know precisely nothing! I'll ask him about it tomorrow, I'll try and be all smooth and casually work it into the conversation, oh god he's going to see right though it, I am such a rubbish liar and he's so perceptive. But he's my friend, I have to ask._

_7__th__ October_

_So this morning before practice, I started up a conversation, I was like_

"_Hey Artegor, are you excited about the friendly match?" he looked nonplussed for a second and then he said "yeah, our first match. I can't wait to play" while I could tell he wasn't lying, his words sounded slightly hollow. So I decided to continue " you know Artegor, we've been friends for a long time….," by this point I was getting nervous, my heart was pounding so fast, Artegor could be unpredictable and I really didn't want to make him flip out "so errr you've helped me in many situations, right? Ummm, like that time my hamster died and when I got that E in trigonometry and so…what I'm trying to say is I'm grateful for all you have done for me, and if you ever need help ask me okay?" It all came out in an awful babble and my palms were so sweaty. Artegor had gone very red by this point, I had forgotten how emotional displays embarrass him, "Yeah okay, if I ever have a problem then I'll come to you" he said looking away and mumbling._

_Then we had practice so we had to stop there. He clearly wasn't going to ask me for help but I'm going to anyway, that's what I owe him as a friend right?_

_Oh and I have my first match, the friendly against the Wambas in two days and I'm barely thinking about it, what's wrong with me?_

_9__th__ October_

_I bet you want to hear about the friendly match we had today, right? Anyway, we travelled to the Wambas planet and we were all so tense that no-one (except Gabby who was giving her usual monologue) was talking, we were all just sitting in silence thinking about this match we had worked so hard for._

_Anyway we got there, rested for a few minutes before we played the match. I remember walking out onto the field, practically having an out of body experience, adrenaline rushing over me in waves. Our first half wasn't the best, it took us a while to find our feet, but we got some good plays in, but it was only at the end of the first half that the wombas scored a goal, we'd blocked a couple of their goals earlier on and they had blocked all of ours. After half time, we had our goal! Gabby got the ball and she got the breath and passed to Norata, who passed to me, and I scored! It was awesome! It was the best feeling! And after a bit of play the match ended, we got a draw! I mean it's not as good as a win but as a new team we're off to a good start, I'm sure we can get better. Oh and I was interviewed on television by the ace reporter Katie White! She asked me some questions about my background and it was a great chance to show off my football knowledge. All in all it was great! Everyone on the team except Artegor has the breath and we did well in the match. We're back on Akillian now and Artegor has gone again, I'm too tired to follow him today but tomorrow I will follow him._

_10__th__ of October_

_I followed him, I followed Artegor. He was walking quickly through out the streets, I had to run and be stealthy quite a feat I tell you. Anyway, he eventually got to his destination, it was an abandoned building, I looked in through the window and I saw him briefly, I tried to find a good vantage point but I could barely see, after 20 minutes I decided to go in. he was in this dingy room, I walked in, he was facing away from me and didn't notice my presence, he was practicing over and over, kicking the ball up, and down, over and over mechanically, he continued for what seemed to me to be hours and a strangled sound started coming out of his throat, he was crying. Slowly I walked over and gently tapped his shoulder, he spun around, his pale face contorted and tear stained. He collapsed in a heap on the floor sobbing, I've never seen Artegor cry before, it was horrible it made my heart hurt in a way it never has before. I held him while he cried for a very long time. _

"_Artegor, what's wrong?" I said breaking the terrible silence. He stopped and gulped trying to regain his dignity._

"_I…. you…..I'm not….. I'm not good enough" he said stuttering._

"_Not good enough for what?" I said trying to calm him._

"_For….the team……for everything….for…your….your…..f-f-ffriendship" he said looking away._

_I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me, I looked into his eyes "you are good enough, you passed the trials for this team, fair and square and you are my best friend, you always will be."_

"_But I don't have the breath…" he said calming a little._

"_You'll get it, I'll show you, just repeating plays will turn you into a robot, you have to feel through it." I offered him a hand up and he took it. I held his hand tightly, "this is what we're going to do, I'm going to use the breath and we're going to kick the ball together so you can feel it, okay?"_

_He nodded, but looked doubtful. I could feel his heartbeat in his hand, it was pounding like mine, I closed my eyes and felt for the breath. I found it and let the breath engulf me, I let Artegor feel in through my fingers and I could feel his essence, we kicked at the same time, we didn't need to speak, we were perfectly in tune with each other, the sensation was unlike any other time I used the breath, I could feel his breath and mine mingle and join into a single perfect shot. It sped towards the wall in which Artegor had drawn a goal onto and bounced back forcibly. We were breathing hard, I felt so tired, and yet so awake, where I was touching Artegor's hand it felt like my flesh was on fire._

_After we had caught our breath (the non flux kind) he smiled at me and said "thank you". We walked home without saying anything, because we didn't have to, we then went to bed. I'm exhausted but I can't sleep, I just feel so alive._

Rocket was disturbed to find he was feeling some strange sort of sympathy for Artegor.

**Next chapter soon. Please review, I hope it wasn't to anti-climatic having Artegor (a footballer) sneaking off to play football, but at least I didn't do what I was originally going to do, which was stop the chapter after the Wombas match, that's worth something, right?**


	7. Chapter 7

The Aarch diaries chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. and I make no money from this fic.**

**Thank you for all reviews so far, please continue to review!**

_11__th__ October_

_We've got another friendly lined up, against the Pirates, this'll be our last one before official GF cup play, I can't wait! Practice was awesome today, because a) we all have the breath now and b) Artegor and I have a deeper connection that we made last night, it's still there, I can feel it, I feel so close to him. When we were playing it felt natural, but more than natural, more like supernatural! On a completely different subject Norata has asked me to go for a drink with him tomorrow because he needs to ask me something, I hope it's nothing too important…_

_12__th__ October_

_Oh! My! God! Okay, I'll start this story from the beginning. Norata and I went to a café today, because he said he had something important to ask me. So we went in and made small talk for ten minutes before he told me._

_He took a deep breath and said "Aarch, Keira's pregnant, and-"_

_I interrupted here I was so surprised "with your child?" _

_Norata looked completely outraged (of course) and said "Of course my child, what kind of girl do you think she is? Anyway, we're getting married, so I wondered whether you'll be my best man." _

_I was shocked that he's getting married at his age, it's crazy, I could have said so but he wouldn't have listened to me so I smiled weakly and said "Sure, I'd be honoured"._

"_Great, thanks!" he said looking happy "the wedding's in a couple of weeks, there's a lot to do."_

_He's crazy, I swear he's crazy! He hasn't told our dad either; he's going to be in so much trouble! Another piece of evidence for my Norata's crazy theory, he then said to me:_

"_What about you?"_

_I said: "what about me?" He then proceeded to say that he thinks I'm in love! Apparently I have a secret smile and I blush at some unknown cause, he's delusional and I told him so, he thinks I love Adium- for some reason that's always been his pet theory- that Adium and I will someday become a couple. Yeah right! He then gave me a lecture about how football isn't everything and how I should "let the warm light of love shine upon my soul", I swear getting engaged does crazy things to a person._

_In case you were wondering, Artegor's in the room at the moment, it seems he doesn't need to sneak out anymore, he's returned to his normal self, actually he's a bit different, he's a bit warmer, a bit friendlier. It's really nice; his smiles are like sunlight shining down on me, he only ever gives me these smiles, it makes me feel so special, I know it's selfish of me, but I like having him all to myself- he isn't as friendly with anyone else, it makes me sad and happy at the same time. So yeah anyway, Artegor and I are going to watch TV now._

_13__th__ October_

_Norata's frantic! He's got so much to do for the wedding that he's running around like a headless chicken. I'm so glad I'm never going to get married, it seems like a waste of time to organise it and besides I find the idea of an eternal bond a little creepy. I mean what if you change your mind, you'll be spiritually bound, if the bond sours you'd still be bound together with no way of escape, I imagine you'd grow to detest the other person. Seems risky to me. And anyway how's Norata going to provide for a child? It's not like we have any money, although I suppose we will start getting money for playing football, but still, what about when the team is off playing matches on other planets? He's just so young; I can't imagine having a family now or ever. But he seems happy…that's the main thing. He's told all the team about the wedding and we're all invited, the coach gave him a lecture on responsibility though. Anyway practice was great again, Artegor and I are really in sync and the whole team seems to be functioning well as a group. We'd better be in good shape, our friendly against the Pirates is in two days, and they're coming here though so we don't have to travel again. Wait I just thought of something, I'm going to be an Uncle! I can't believe I didn't realise that before! I hope I can be the 'cool uncle' figure while Norata has to be disciplinarian, I can be fun and give the kid lots of sweets. Got to go, we're all going shopping to buy outfits for the wedding._

_14__th__ October_

_That shopping trip was exhausting! Seriously! I found the thing I wanted in the first shop I went into, and Artegor, Norata and Liadan found their stuff pretty quickly. But the terrible twosome of Adium and Gabby insisted on dragging us into shop after shop, and making us give opinions on the trillions of things they tried on. They were never satisfied; until in the end they went back to the first shop we went to and bought the first thing they had tried on! Seriously, we were all groaning by this point, shopping's seriously more exhausting than football practice. Nothing else really happened but match against the Pirates Tomorrow! We can totally win! Go Akillian go!_

**Next chapter soon, probably tomorrow.**


	8. Chapter 8

The Aarch diaries chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik football etc. and I make no money from this.**

**Wow, chapter 8, this is the longest fic, I've ever written and the most reviews I've ever got!** **In the last chapter, I forgot Ciaran when I wrote about the shopping trip and I also forgot to include Rocket's thoughts- either you guys didn't notice or you were two nice to say so, so anyway, I'll be sure to remember them this time!**

"It's weird reading about my parents being so young, and they never told me, mum was pregnant when she married dad!" Rocket said to himself out loud.

_15__th__ October_

_Yes! We won! We won! Awesome! Our first win! I am ecstatic! Yes, we won! Okay, I'll calm down now and tell you about the match. One thing we learned from the match was that despite having no flux the pirates really are an awesome team, they have a lot of style on the pitch but they are no match for the breath. We won 3-0, I scored two and Artegor scored the other one! We were both really playing our bests and also as much as I don't like her, Liadan was very good in goal, I fact the entire team was performing well, this sets us up nicely for the cup matches! Anyway, WE WON, WE WON, WE WON, And WE WON! Sorry I just had to say it again. Anyway the whole team's going out to celebrate our victory, so I'll write about it tomorrow!_

_16__th__ October_

_Last night was wild! First we went to a nice Italian restaurant and ordered lots of Pizza! We were all sitting having a fun time and chatting a lot (Gabby wasn't the only talkative one!) and being slightly rowdy. But after that we decided to go to a club, Norata left at that point because he wanted to sort some stuff out with Keira- he's really become Mr Responsible, he acts a lot older than he is. But anyway, the rest of us went to a club and ordered ourselves some alcohol (we were celebrating, why not?) We did go a little overboard- some patches of the night are a bit blank, but it was still fun! We all became different types of drinkers, Gabby talked a lot and loudly (no change there then!), Ciaran started repeating "good times, good times" and finding it hilariously funny, Adium started flirting with lots of guys, Liadan got a little bit aggressive- we had to stop her from starting a fight, it made Artegor clumsy and more uninhabited (We were all dancing, but I never thought I'd see Artegor dance but he was, he wasn't very good, he kept falling over-it was so sweet!). I just asked Artegor and he said I was really huggy when I was drunk, I can kinda remember giving Artegor lot's of hugs, hopefully he was too drunk to mind. _

_Anyway, afterward we had to sneak back into the academy so that the Coach wouldn't know. It was quite a feat, and most of us were hangover this morning at training- the coach didn't notice but Norata gave us a mock-lecture afterwards (of course he was as fresh as a daisy and he just had to rub it in our faces!)_

_But anyway we'll be starting real cup play soon, I can't wait! I know we can win! We can! It'd make our planet so proud, Akillian never wins, but I hope we can be the first in a long time to do so! I'm so excited!_

"And he was angry with us, when we went to a club? We weren't even drinking!" Rocket said indignant.

_17__th__ October_

_Okay so nothing particularly important happened today, although they were playing the highlights of our friendly on television so we all went and watched ourselves, it was very weird I have to say, I don't look in the mirror much so I don't really know what I look, so yeah very weird! The commentary was cool though, they kept complimenting our style, they said Artegor and I had great potential as a hard-hitting striker team! Yes! They also said we might be just what Akillian needs! So, Yay! Nothing else to report, Norata's roped me into looking for a venue for his wedding, so I have to go do that._

_18__th__ October_

_The matches we have to play to qualify have been announced we're going to be playing to qualify. We are going to play the Technoids, the rykers and the shadows, it's a tough group but I'm sure we can do it. We have to keep our team spirit up though, all the teams are experienced and we aren't which could be bad for us, but we have the element of surprise! We found a place for the wedding as well, it's a nice little temple which is very pretty but luckily a lot of people don't know about it so it wasn't booked. Norata still has to find a caterer which causing him hassle, luckily for him our dad's a florist so we have flowers- oh yeah, he told dad about it. He wasn't too pleased, but he's glad that Norata's doing the right thing and marrying her so he's making sure the wedding definitely happens, but I think they won't be on good terms for a while. Who'd of guessed that Norata would be the one in such big trouble? That reminds me it falls down to me to organise Norata's stag do, just because I'm his brother doesn't mean I should do all the work, I mean seriously, Organisation is hardly my best skill, hopefully I can rope Ciaran and Artegor to help me out, or I'm screwed! It's so chaotic at the moment, with the wedding and the start of the official GF matches! On that note, I'm going I have to start planning that party!_

_19__th__ October_

_Seriously, I am too tired, we were planning the party and just when we thought everything was done another thing pops up! It was so annoying; it's so much harder than playing football. And speaking of football we have a match in three days against Technoid, at least they are robots, surely an organic creature can beat a machine anyday? I hope we can! We've been training extra hard, the stress of it is getting to me a bit but still the excitement is over riding it, I've been dreaming of these matches my whole life! I have to go to go to do extra training now!_

_22__nd__ October_

_I've been too busy to write in this diary, I've been alternating between helping Norata and training for the match. Anyway, guess what? We won the match! Our first qualifier match and we won! Yes! We beat those robots good and proper! Okay so, in the first half we had reached a point where it was about to be over with no goals on either side, but then Gabby got control of the ball and scored a goal. Then, after half time, Artegor scored a goal. It was a really amazing goal as well! The technoid robots managed to sneak a goal in at then end so it ended 2-1, not as good as we could have done but we still won, and I may not have scored a goal but I set up Artegor's goal, so I think I did okay. I'll do better next match. Gabby got interviewed- which she loved as she got an opportunity to talk for ages and not be interrupted! So yeah, we won! Go team go! Plus preparations for the wedding, which is in 4 days, are finished just on time. So yeah, we can relax a bit before our next match which is the away match against technoid, which is in a week's time. I hope we can beat them again! We know what to expect now, we won't allow them to catch us with out guard down at the end! I'm going out to celebrate again with the team; we're going to keep it low key this time!_

_23__rd__ October_

_We went out last night, we had Pizza again, but as I predicted it was kinda mellow because we were all exhausted from the match. So no alcohol for us this time, besides we know we'll have to be in good shape for the upcoming matches. Oh, but you'll never guess what happened - we were just sitting there when this girl of about our age comes up to the table and goes " Are you Artegor Nexus?", he was like "Yes, do I know you?" and she squealed really loudly "the football player! You are so cute! I thought you wouldn't look like that in real life, but your hair is amazing! Can I have an autograph?" and she gave him a kiss on the cheek! He gave her an autograph but he was looking a bit stiff and wooden. He doesn't get on very well with people who gush and he doesn't respond well to girls especially not in close physical contact- so it was like a double badness. I think it was bang out of order that she would kiss him though, I mean she doesn't even know him and talk about invasion of personal space! Ciaran funny though, he was complaining how nobody fangirls him, I wouldn't want fangirls though, they seem a bit scary! Artegor was a bit more quiet for the rest of the time, he was a bit freaked out but I don't think anyone else noticed anything. Why do I only ever notice these things? Most of the team never bothers to address Artegor directly either or start a conversation with him, it's getting on my nerves a bit._

_24__th__ October_

_We had a lot of training but apart from that nothing big happened. Artegor's got over his experience with the fangirl, he's not dwelling on stuff as much nowadays, but I guarantee that the girl will be on 'his list' forever now. I've never been on the list and I hope I never get on it! Norata's party is tomorrow, but we're all prepared, so Artegor and I have been chilling out a bit, just talking and watching TV. _

_25__th__ October_

_It was Norata's stag do today. It was a small gathering, with me, him, Artegor and Ciaran. What we did was eat some snacks and then we showed some home movies of Norata and we each gave a speech about Norata. I think he enjoyed himself, we could have gone wilder but I don't think he would have liked that. So yeah, it was fun, I don't have much else to say about it, except I really can't believe my brother's getting married tomorrow! It's just crazy!_

**Next chapter soon! Please review, I love reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

The Aarch diaries chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. And I make no money from this fic.**

**I've had a lot of problems with this chapter I've had to do lots of rewrites so bear that in mind when you read it!**

_26th October_

_The Wedding! Okay, for the records sake I'm going to try and write this down in chronological order. Okay so we all got dressed and we hung around at the academy doing all the last minute preparations and helping Norata practice his vows. Of course he wasn't allowed to see Keira before the wedding, so she was off somewhere else with her bridesmaids. Anyway, about half an hour before the ceremony began we went 'backstage' at the temple where they were getting married and pretty much continued what we were doing. Norata looked kinda nervous, it's only to be expected but he mostly looked really happy at the thought of having a wife and child (possible children, who knows?) I wouldn't have wanted him to feel forced into marriage because she's pregnant but I know the baby will have two loving parents. Anyway, after much hanging around it finally began, Norata took his place at the altar and after few minutes Keira began her walk up the aisle, her expression mirroring Norata's. By the time she had got to the altar they were literally beaming at each other._

_So then they stood there while the priestess gave a long lecture on marital responsibilities until it finally got to the important part, the 'I dos'. Of course they both said 'I do' so then they were married, and of course they had to seal the deal with a long lingering kiss, which was very embarrassing to watch I must say. So then we all went to a hotel for lunch and speeches and stuff. I had to make a speech as the best man and I made people cry (in a good way) and there was lots of toasting to things and giving of presents and of course there was a dance floor. Artegor didn't dance this time, which was a pity, I liked his dancing! Yeah, also he's moving out of the academy (obviously), he's found somewhere to rent and so Keira and him have moved in there, poor Ciaran being left roommate less! But anyway it was a really nice little wedding and I hope they'll be very happy together._

"Awwww" Rocket said, thinking it was kind of cute.

_27__th__ October_

_Okay two days until the match and I am very excited (when am I not excited by a match?). Anyway, it's been Keira's and Norata's first day of marriage, they are having their honeymoon after the match, they only get a weekend break because of training, but I don't think they mind. Apart from that, nothing else to report, Artegor and I are going to see a film in a few minutes._

_28__th__ October_

_Match tomorrow! I'm looking forward to it, but now I feel maybe I'm not thinking about it enough, 'real life' keeps getting in the way, I keep getting distracted. I feel like I'm squandering my opportunity sometimes, but I mean I train hard, surely I should be allowed to have leisure time? Also, the teams been getting on my nerves they keep asking me when I'm going to get married and making jokes about it even though I've said over a million times that I'm not getting married! Artegor's the only one who doesn't do it, he even said to the team "Aarch isn't going to get married", wasn't that nice of him to stick up for me?_

_At the moment it's raining hard, it's kind of annoying, it's keeping me awake. It doesn't annoy Artegor though; he's been sticking his head out the window so it can rain on him. He's always had this strange little quirk ever since I've known him, some people think it's weird, but I think it's quite endearing. The rain's starting to stop, so he's put his head back in, he's dripping wet and grinning like a lunatic! We're trying to get to sleep now so we have some rest before the match._

_29__th__ October_

_Guess what? We beat the technoid! Again! This time I scored 2 goals and Artegor scored 1! And the technoid….0! This time we knew their tricks and we played a good game (even if I do say so myself!) We beat them! We beat them! Yes! We're starting to drum up a lot of support as well. It's not why I play, but having crowds screaming your name is definitely a bonus! It was an away match though, so it was mostly angry technoid fans cursing our names but it was still fun! We're going out again to celebrate (is that all we ever do, it kinda seems like it), Norata's not coming though, because he's going on his honeymoon with Keira tomorrow, so he has to pack and stuff (it kinda seems like he lives in a different world nowadays with him being so mature and responsible). _

_30__th__ October_

_It's Samhain tomorrow! I didn't even realise until today. I wonder what I'm going to dress up as, it's a bit short notice because of all the stuff which has been preoccupying me, but I'm sure I'll find something to wear. We're going to a big party as well, I'll try and stay away from alcohol but I can't promise anything. The team badly needs to work of some stress, so we're all going except Norata…obviously! I wonder what Artegor's going as? I won't ask though, it'll spoil the surprise. Right, I'm going to look for a costume now!_

**Next chapter soon! Sorry about this chapter, but I think the next chapter will be better! Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

The Aarch diaries chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football or make any money from this fic.**

**Artegor and Aarch are seriously taking over my brain, they were in my dream last night, in my dream I was going for a walk and I walked past them getting married on the beach- the freaky part was Artegor was wearing the traditional white dress and veil! And after that random piece of information, on to the chapter….**

_1__st __November_

_Okay, I'm going to try to write what happened in some sort of sane order, even though I can barely bear to think about it._

_I had chosen my costume- I was a ghost, all it took was a white sheet. Artegor had put more effort into his costume, he was a vampire, not a cheap gory vampire but an elegant, brooding one. I remember thinking that he looked that he looked so….beautiful. We met up with the rest of team who were all wearing costumes, Gabby was a catgirl, Adium was a fairy, Ciaran was a werewolf and Liadan was a zombie. So we all went to this huge party we'd been invited to, after about 5 minutes, I took the sheet off because it was too limiting for movement. At the party there was regular party stuff as well as special Samhain themed stuff. The girls and Ciaran headed straight for the dance floor and Artegor mysteriously disappeared so I went over to the fortune telling booths. I had to wait in line for ages, but eventually I got let into the room, the fortune teller had weird purple hair that immediately made me feel sceptical. But I had waited for ages so I sat down and she read my fortune in her crystal ball. I wasn't impressed so I flippantly said "Yet me guess, Tall dark stranger?"_

"_Yes, he is tall and dark, but he is no stranger" she said smiling eerily._

"_What do you mean" I asked._

"_You'll see" she said, showing me the door._

_As soon as I stepped out I felt weird, the atmosphere was intense, and everything felt crazy. I felt dizzy but in a way which made me laugh. It felt like everything was spinning round and round, so I blundered around, it wasn't alcohol, I'd barely had any. So I was blundering around, not really sure what I was doing, just wandering. Until I saw Artegor in the crowd moving somewhere. I felt so desperate to catch up with him. I ran after him and it turned out he had gone outside and was just sitting down doing nothing._

"_What are you doing?" I asked, laughing at the stupidity of my question._

_He turned he head and said "Nothing, it was just a bit hot in there; I went to get some fresh air."_

_I went and sat beside him and we were sitting so close, his dark hair was gleaming in the moonlight and in a sudden impulse I started running my fingers through it, barely even thinking about it. He didn't say or do anything, just looked at me wide eyed. And that's when I did it, that's when I kissed him. It felt so good, so warm and… I just can't describe how it felt, he kissed me back as well. After a while we stopped, but I didn't get chance to talk to him because the rest of the team came out of the doors and we all went home. So I haven't said anything to him about it, I hope he won't hate me forever. I think I may have ruined everything. And I think, that maybe I'm in love with Artegor, god I can't believe I'm writing this. I just want to be with him so much now, but I hope that even if he can't feel the same that we can still be friends….god I hate this._

"Oh my God!" Rocket jumped up and the booked dropped out of his lap. "Aarch and Artegor…Artegor Nexus, coach of the shadows and my Uncle Aarch, I don't believe this!" he yelled, he really knew he shouldn't be reading the diary now, but nonetheless he picked up the diary gingerly and continued to read.

_2__nd__ November_

_I think that he's avoiding me. It's very painful to see him from a distance, we see each other because we are roommates and because of training. But we don't talk, and his expression looks so pained, his face is blank looking, which on Artegor means he's dealing with some great emotion. I'm so sorry that I hurt him with my moment of selfishness. Football seems so unimportant compared to this, there's a sentence I'd never thought I ever would have written…but well look at me now.. Norata's back though, he wants to talk to me, so I'm going now, he looks happy…at least someone is._

_3__rd__ November_

_The conversation I had with Norata was disturbing. He said he could read it all over my face that I was in love with someone who didn't return my feelings. I protested of course, it's weird now, I feel like I have to hide my feelings, because I know no-one would accept them. He still that I'm in love with Adium; I'm not going to correct him. He told me though; the way to get rid of the pain is to just tell the person your feelings. I guess I can't put it off any longer, I'm going to talk to Artegor no matter what, I feel sick and my heart is beating so unnaturally fast, I know this isn't going to be easy… I'll write tomorrow to tell you what happens. Wish me luck._

**Look something's actually happening for a change! New chapter soon, please review! **


	11. Chapter 11

The Aarch diaries chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football and I make no money from this fic.**

_4th November_

_So this is how it went: I found Artegor reading in the library, I seriously didn't even know we had a library in the academy, but Gabby told me we did and that Artegor was in it, so I naturally went there. So I walked into the library, he was sitting at a desk reading a book, if I had thought I had felt bad before I felt worse when I saw him, his face intently staring at the book. But I forced myself to walk over and sit opposite him on the desk; I didn't want to sit next to him in case he didn't want to be too near me after what happened. I sat there for ten minutes while I tried to summon my nerves and think of something to say, Artegor was just sitting there pretending to be completely engrossed in his book, I think he hoped that if he pretended I wasn't there I would go away. But I summoned my courage and started to talk "Artegor…..we need to talk", I was trying so hard to sound firm but I could hear my voice shake._

"_About what?" he said flatly, still staring down at his book, he couldn't meet my eyes._

"_You know what about, listen if you don't…." it was so hard, it was taking all my energy just to get the words out "…if you don't, if you don't feel…" I stopped realising I was babbling. I took a deep breath, trying to stop myself from crying, but I had started this, so I was going to finish it._

"_Listen Artegor, I am going to be really honest with you, ever since…. Over the past few days I have realised that the way I feel about you is more than friendly, I hope you know what I mean by that…..but please know, I'll never do anything like that again without your permission. I'm so sorry I invaded your space and….." I looked to Artegor to see whether I was getting through, this was so, so hard, but he was just looking downwards eyes glazed._

"_This is a joke isn't it?" he said slowly "Whose idea was it, Gabby's I suppose, well I'm not falling for it!"_

_This was not what I had expected "what are you talking about? This isn't a joke, Artegor, this isn't a joke, my feelings aren't a joke" _

"_Why would you like me?" he said choking back tears, trying his best to look nonchalant. _

"_Artegor! Do I really have to explain this to you? I love how you try to hide your feelings under a cool façade but the truth and goodness of your heart shines through, you're so caring and loyal…" I trailed off, I had tried to confess my feelings without revealing too much but I had just told him everything I felt, it was more than embarrassing._

_He looked at me in the eyes for the first time_

"_You're serious aren't you" he said in disbelief. I nodded, tears started to flow despite my best efforts._

"_Aarch, please…..please don't cry, I'm sorry," he walked over to me at put his arm around me awkwardly "I thought that you were making fun of me, I should have known that you'd never do that. It's hard for me to say this but I like you…in the same way you like me."_

_I literally couldn't believe my ears, but I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders, it was like my heart was soaring. We both dried our eyes laughing._

"_However," Artegor started his tone light "you stole my first kiss, I need payback." So he 'stole' a kiss off me! Who would have known he could be so flirtatious. So yeah….we're pretty much…boyfriends now….what a weird thing to be writing so yeah. I'm so happy though, I'm so glad it turned out for the best! This is so great, super awesome! I can't believe Artegor is mine, I'm never going to get used to writing sentences like that! I have to go, Artegor's calling!_

"You think its weird writing about it, imagine how I feel!" Rocket protested, feeling more than a bit freaked out.

**Next chapter soon. I'm sorry this one is so short but this confession has taken me ages to write. If it's not very coherent blame the fact that Aarch is too happy to think straight. Please review, I love reviews!**


	12. Chapter 12

The Aarch diaries chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik football etc. And I make no money from this fic!**

_5__th__ November_

_It's so weird going to practice and going about my everyday business knowing that Artegor and I are together. We talk and act like nothing has changed when around other people, but really everything is different. It's odd that no-one knows about it but us, it's our precious little secret. We're training for the match against the Rykers, did I mention, we have a match against the Rykers in three days? It's going to be tough, the Rykers are a great team unlike the technoids, I hope we can win, but with all that has been going on with Artegor, I've been a little…well distracted! However my team work with Artegor has improved, so that's a bonus._

_According to Norata I look a lot happier than I did before, since when is Norata such an expert on my emotional states? I asked him and he said that living with a pregnant woman means you have to be attuned to moods (okay then…) He still thinks it's because of Adium though, so he's not that attuned to moods then…. But it seems the baby is doing well, they still don't know whether it's a boy or a girl. The names they are thinking of are: Rocket if it is a boy or if it is a girl Sorcha. What weird names! I didn't tell him so though, I just tactfully nodded. But seriously Rocket…..weird choice, I'm sure he'd be the butt of all the jokes at school! Anyway, Artegor and I are going on a date now….so I'll write about it later!_

"Hey! That's my name you're talking about! Anyway what kind of name is Aarch? It's like Arch!" Rocket yelled, forgetting that the diary couldn't answer back.

_6__th__ November_

_Urgh! Gabby is so annoying, we were going on a date to the cinema and she invited herself along! We couldn't exactly tell her it was a date so she came along and she sat between us at the cinema! Not only that she has come up with, in her words a 'genius', nickname for Artegor. You want to know what it is? Well I'll tell you: "Tey Tey", how annoying is that? Artegor was just as annoyed as I was. We couldn't even concentrate on the film because she talked the entire time! And I think she likes Artegor! She kept looking at him and smiling and blah blah blahing at him! I bet she wants to steal him; no doubt she likes him because he's not so talkative so she could do all the talking. Well think again, Gabby! He's mine! Oh dear! I have a Rykers match in two days and I'm spending my precious time being insanely jealous, Artegor and I should go do some extra training now, so I'll write tomorrow._

_7__th__ November_

_We had a good training session yesterday, in a way it was our real date (without a certain annoying so and so). I'm feeling confident we can win the match now, it'll be fine! But we actually did go on a proper date today! We went for lunch in a small restaurant. It was so great, it's like we're still best friends but it goes beyond that! So we went to the restaurant wearing sunglasses of course so no-one would recognise us (well Artegor always wears the sunglasses I gave him anyway, so no change there!) Anyway we talked, mostly about the match which is tomorrow. But it's still different to before. When I looked at him and he looked at me, there's our deeper connection, and I can see that he feels the same way about me as I do about him. The candlelight looked so good on his hair…I think I'm addicted to Artegor's hair…seriously though, it's gorgeous! Right, I have to go to sleep now, I want to be prepared for the match tomorrow! _

_8__th__ November_

_I don't really want to write this...but we lost to the Rykers. Not only did we lose but we lost 4-1. I can't believe this! Our first defeat, it feels so bad! I hope we can recover from this, but I'm not sure we can, the Rykers were so much better than us, so aggressive but yet Norata got taken out for supposedly committing a foul when he did no such thing. It's so unfair. We tried our best; we've trained so hard, for nothing! Our planet must be so ashamed of us! Artegor's gone to train again, I think I'll go join him, we'll need all the help we can get to beat the Rykers but the match is in 5 days, it's nowhere near enough time. Face it, our team's never going to win, they crushed our defence and just shrugged off our offence with such ease. This can't get worse! Our coach is angry as well, the next few days will not fun, everyone's gloomy….We've lost morale which means we'll be even more likely to lose! Why am I wasting time writing in this diary when I should be training?_

Rocket remembered his first defeat, and for the first time since the 'revelation' had come out he found himself empathising with Aarch.

**Please review! For those of you who are inevitably thinking "will this fic ever end", I assure you that it will eventually, so have no fears! Also I am wondering whether in future you would like me to address the issue of Adium and Aarch going out or whether you'd like me to ignore canon and nothing happened-please answer this question as I am unsure of what to do.**


	13. Chapter 13

The Aarch diaries: chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik football etc. And I make no money from this.**

**Sorry that I didn't do a chapter yesterday, real life aka. Aikido got in the way. You people all had such different opinions on Adium, so I hope that I got a good middlish ground!**

_9__th__ November_

_Training! Training! Training! We've been doing serious training today, so much that even in our free time we spend time training, the Rykers are on such a higher level than us so we need a lot more training if we ever want to stand a chance. We have to beat them, we absolutely have to, but I don't know if we can…_

_10__th__ November_

_More training! It feels different when we train now, like we're working under a weight. Before it always felt fun when we trained but now we feel so pressured and we are seriously running out of time._

_11__th__ November_

_Why am I even bothering to write in here? There's only one thing to report: Training! Only two days left…. This is awful, we'll never be ready, it's like when you have only a few days to revise for a big exam and you know you're going to fail except this is 10000000000 times worse. Artegor's stressed as well._

_12__th__ November_

_It's the match tomorrow, Arghhhh! And it's an away match so we have to go over to Unadar with no chance to put in extra training. As the team's Captain I have to motivate the team, but how can I when I have so little faith. We've been working so hard, I just don't want all that work to come to nothing. So I have to think positive…think positive…think positive- we can win! This will be my mantra._

_13__th__ November_

_Today was the return match. And guess what? We won! All that extra training paid off! It wasn't a sweeping victory we won 3-2, but a win's a win! At half time all was not going well 2-1 but after a motivational speech from Ciaran (not sure exactly why he of all people was giving it but it worked), we could then play our best, I scored 2 goals! The first goal was scored by Artegor. We really did well; I feel a nice fuzzy feeling whenever Artegor does well… But all our team did well…except Adium, she wasn't playing so well…_

_So yay! We won! Against all odds! We're all going out in separate groups; we're all a bit sick of each other from all the training. So Adium and Gabby are going shopping (again), the unlikely pairing of Liadan and Ciaran are going to the amusement park, Norata's off with Keira, having a quiet night in and Artegor and I are going…bowling! I know it seems a bit odd, neither of us particularly like bowling but none of the rest of the team are going there and as it's not so popular I hope we don't get recognised. Also Adium said there's something she wants to talk to me about, I wonder what it is?_

**Find out next time! Sorry that this chapter is short and late…can you forgive me please? Please review, they make me very happy!**


	14. Chapter 14

The Aarch diaries chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. And I make no money on this fic.**

**In response to 'Son of Broady', it's not Aarch and Adium because I don't particularly like that couple, and I think that the interactions between Aarch and Artegor are a lot more interesting- I hope that answers the question.**

_14__th__ November_

_She knows! She knows! How does she know? About Artegor and me, I mean….Okay, I'll start the story from the beginning. She came into my room when Artegor was away so she could discuss that thing she said she needed to talk to me about. She didn't even make small talk, she got right on topic, she just said "Aarch, my parents keep wanting to set me up with this guy and I really don't like him, so I need someone to pretend to be my boyfriend when I meet up with them tomorrow, can you please do it?"_

_I was shocked at her request, I obviously didn't want to do it, I'm dating Artegor after all. So I said apologetically: "No, sorry, can't you ask Ciaran?"_

"_Let me rephrase this: you will come along, it's not a request it's an order" she said dangerously._

"_You can't order me around!" It was only natural to feel outraged._

"_I didn't want to have to do this but… I know your secret, and if you don't help me, I'll tell everyone" she said blinking in mock innocence._

"_What secret? I don't have a secret!" I said trying to sound calm, but my heart was pounding._

"_Nice try, I know your secret, so I'll ask again, will you help me with my parents"_

_I was defeated, it's not just me at stake, Artegor is as well. And I'd never want anything to happen to him. So I had to say "Fine, what time?"_

_She told me the details, and then she left. I had to tell Artegor about it, he's sulking at the moment. I can't say I blame him. I just hope that Adium doesn't ruin my relationship. I'd hate to go back to that point where we didn't talk for ages. Okay to cheer myself up I'm going to stick a picture I took of Artegor and me, last night._

_Isn't it a good picture of us? Anyway, it's been announced that the match against the shadows is in a week, so we better train hard for that, they are the GF champions after all, it's going to be harder to beat them then anyone we've already faced, including the Rykers. I have to sleep now, ready for the ordeal I have to go through tomorrow. _

"Weird!" Rocket thought in relation to Adium and Aarch, although he thought it made sense that she had a bossy personality, after all she did get the job of league president. He the peered at the photo Aarch had stuck in, Artegor and Aarch had their arms around each others shoulders and they were both smiling, Aarch's was a full out grin but of course Artegor's smile was a little more reserved-but he still looked very happy. It was weird seeing 'photographic evidence', it made everything that Aarch was writing about seem more real.

_15__th__ November_

_That was officially the worst day of my life! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still it ranked up there… This is what happened: I had to go after a hard practice session to her parents' house to meet them. They then integrated me for ages about my relationship with Adium, how we got together and stuff like that…It was very awkward. Adium answered most of the questions for me, I'm bad at lying, unlike Adium who is evidently a brilliant liar. It just shows her awful personality, she was making up the sappiest stories as well, it was so embarrassing! I definitely would never date her, I wouldn't have before but now I've seen her personality it makes me really dislike her. We've been friends for a long time, but we aren't anymore. The only slightly okayish bit was when her dad talked to me about football. The rest was just one great big misery. All the time I could only think of Artegor. I hope he's not too mad at me…I hope that if he's angry at anyone he's angry at Adium, she deserves it. I just hope he doesn't blame me. I couldn't bear it if he did. I'm going to talk to him now, wish me some luck._

Despite himself, Rocket found himself hoping that it could work out between Aarch and Artegor.

**Next chapter soon I promise, I'm sorry if it seems the chapters are getting shorter but my parents want me to spend less time on the computer. Please review, reviews really encourage me!**


	15. Chapter 15

The Aarch diaries chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik football etc. And I make no money off this fic.**

**Again in response to the anonymous reviewer 'Son of Broady', firstly in a review you are supposed to review the fanfiction not criticise people's personal opinions. Secondly I have nothing personal against the things which I dislike but I am entitled to my own opinions on things. **

**I'm grateful to all the people who leave sensible and constructive reviews.**

_16__th__ November_

_This is what happened: I just went straight over to Artegor and said _

"_Listen Artegor, I know you are angry with me, but I don't deserve it. I have to pretend or she'll tell everything. But I feel nothing but contempt for her; you know it's you I love", I said love without realising, we'd never really used that word with each other, I hoped that I hadn't botched this._

_He looked up at me with a weird light burning in his eyes, I had always thought it was impossible when people talked about a 'mirthless smile' but Artegor was managing to smile mirthlessly. He started to do that slow talking thing he does, "Aarch…..I believe you. But I'll never let her have you. Never! I love you Aarch but you have to promise me…." He trailed off._

"_What?" I asked, I was sure Artegor's demands would be less outrageous than Adium's but I still wanted to know what I was promising. _

"_Promise that you won't leave me, promise that you'll never let me down" he said looking me directly in the eyes. I felt a shiver go down my spine. It kind of felt that I would hear those words haunt me forever, it was such a large thing to promise and all it took was a simple yes to sign my life away but I couldn't stop myself, I knew that if I didn't promise I would lose him so I said it "Yes", he said "Do you promise?", and I said "Yes. I promise". So then he kissed me, with such raw energy and passion as never before, and then….well I'm not writing about it, some things should be secret, not told even to your diary. _

Rocket felt himself immensely glad that Aarch hadn't explained what had happened further, Rocket had suspicions about what had happened but as long as Aarch hadn't written anything outright he could believe what he liked about it.

_17__th__ November_

_Adium wants another favour. Typical! She's meeting up with her old friends from school and for some reason that requires her to have a boyfriend. I think it's pure fabrication that she needs me to pretend to be her boyfriend, she just wants to see me suffer, I'm not sure why. It just feels so wrong to pretend to be with her. But I will do what I must to protect Artegor. _

**More soon I promise…Please review, if you have something constructive to say.**


	16. Chapter 16

The Aarch diaries chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik football etc. And make no money from this fic. **

_18__th__ November_

_Well that was fun…not! So Adium and I went to the park to meet her friends. There was a biggish group of them all girls. So basically it seems he wanted to show off that she had a boyfriend (despite the fact that I'm not her boyfriend) to the rest of them. She told 'the story' again, of how we got together. I think she added more embellishments this time. All her friends were asking constant questions of me for about the first ten minutes but after that they got bored and completely ignored me and started talking about girl's stuff. Adium looked very smug on the way back like she'd won something, well she hasn't beaten me, Ill find a way to escape from her slavery._

_19__th__ of November_

_Adium came to practice with wet hair today, she said she couldn't find her hairdryer. She was irritated about it as well. Artegor was smiling a little smile to himself, I have my suspicions as to where the hair dryer went but Adium just thinks that Gabby has hidden it. I hope he won't get caught; he'll get in trouble if he does. I just hope he won't go too far, Artegor can be a little obsessive at time… It's getting harder being in public with each other, we have to remember to put on neutral expressions and not to stand too close. But sometimes we slip, I will automatically go to grab his hand or touch his hair, but so far no-one has noticed. Adium does a good job of pretending she doesn't know as well, I still don't know how she found out either. I hate this situation! I hate waiting to hear when she wants me to do another favour. _

_20__th__ November_

_We have a match tomorrow! I am kind of nervous to be facing the cup champions, plus I know they have an aggressive style which could be difficult to get around. I'm going to watch some previous videos of their matches with Artegor to try and analyse a weakness. I hope we find one._

_21__st__ November_

_We lost the match. I feel a bit sad, but I'm not going to get depressed like I did when we lost to the Rykers. We'll all have to do our best to train hard. We lost 5-2, so at least we managed to score this time. From my analysis the goal keeper is the weak link, the shadows are better at offense than defence, so perhaps the team could use that. But we have to win the next match; we have to in order to qualify for the final 16. And I am not giving up now! We'll to work harder and be smart about it. I will not let Adium get in the way this time; I think she really messed up our chances this time by distracting me with her favours. We can't stop our journey here; we have to win the cup for Akillian. The match is in just 5 days, I don't know if we can do it, but we will try!_

**A new chapter soon! Please review! **


	17. Chapter 17

The Aarch diaries chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own galactik football etc. And I make no money from this fic.**

_22nd November_

_We've been training hard, even harder than the training we did for that match against the Rykers. I've been trying to keep team spirits up; you can't play properly if you are miserable. Someone's ringing the doorbell, I'm praying it's not Adium wanting another favour, but it probably is, I'm going to look now._

_23__rd__ November_

_Guess who it was….yes it was Adium! She needs me to go to some party she's been invited to. This is getting really tedious, I hate it. On another Adium related note, she says she heard a banging noise on her window in the middle of the night which scared her and Gabby, but when she looked there was nothing there. I wonder whether it was just a coincidence or whether…. I won't write down what I suspect, I wouldn't want to incriminate anyone. The training is going well though; I think we have a chance of beating the shadows. I'm going out with Artegor tonight which should help me live through that party I have to go to tomorrow. I don't know where I'm going with him though, but I am just desperate to escape from the academy and Adium for just a few hours._

_24__th__ November_

_Well I have two events to tell you: the real date with Artegor and the fake one with Adium. I'm going to tell it in non chronological order so I can get the depressing time with Adium out of the way and then become happy again when I write about Artegor. Okay so I went with Adium to her friend's party. We had to stay there for like 5 hours it was so dull and my feet really hurt by the end of it. Adium told the story again of course. It was seriously uncomfortable for me; the pretence is becoming harder as it goes along. Nobody really bothered to talk to me at the party either, I just kept getting those up and down glances which were really making me feel unwelcome. Well it finally after what felt like millions of years it ended._

_Now onto what happened the previous night with Artegor. We went out, just to the park, we didn't even really do anything except talk (well there was the occasional bit of kissing). But it was really nice, just to have some time alone with him, we've been busy recently but we had some time to ourselves. When we aren't in front of other people we can be ourselves and show our feelings openly. It's a nice freedom. Artegor's very different when other people aren't around. I have to admit it's a bit of strain trying to hide everything, some days I just wish I could just tell everybody. But oh well, I better go train now we've a match in two days!_

_25__th__ November_

_We have a match tomorrow. I'm excited! I can't wait! We've been training hard for tomorrow, and tomorrow could get us into the final 16 and genesis stadium. I hope everything will go well, we have to continue in the competition! I need my rest now, the match is important. I'll write tomorrow!_

But he didn't. Rocket turned the page and found it blank. The hurriedly flipped through all the pages but they were all blank. He knew that match had been when the ice-age hit Akillian; it was understandable that Aarch wouldn't have wanted to write about. He put the book down and looked at his watch, it was only 40 minutes after he had started reading, he felt like he had lived a lifetime in that short space of time. He left the attic and waited for Aarch to return home.

**It's not over yet! The next chapter will be soon! Please review. And Happy Winter solstice! **


	18. Chapter 18

The Aarch diaries chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik football etc. And make no money from this fic.**

"What do I do now?" Rocket thought, he was waiting in Aarch's spare room, which was his room while he was staying with Aarch. Rocket's brain was whirring, should he tell Aarch he had read the diary or not? He would get in trouble if he did say but he wasn't sure whether he could pretend that nothing happened. Besides, he had already snooped through his Uncle's personal stuff; shouldn't he at least have the decency to be honest about it? And as much as it shamed him to admit it, he wanted to know what happened after that. He wasn't sure there was any other ways to find out other than ask Aarch- well he could ask Artegor but what were the chances of him answering?

After what seemed like eternity but was really just 50 minutes, Rocket heard the sound of the front door opening and presumably Aarch coming in. Rocket steeled himself and walked down the stairs slowly. Aarch had gone into the kitchen and was unpacking some food he had bought. Rocket who was hovering by the doorway looked at him for a minute, it was weird that Aarch looked the same as he always had, it wasn't logical but Rocket had half expected to see some kind of sign that he had been in love with Artegor. He assumed that there was nothing going on between Artegor and Aarch now; they were rivals at best and enemies at worst.

"Rocket!" Aarch said cheerily upon noticing him standing in the doorway.

"Uncle…." Rocket started to say.

"I hope I wasn't gone to long, but the queues were monstrous," upon noticing Rocket's serious expression he asked "what's wrong?"

Rocket took a deep breath and blurted out "You….You and Artegor were….were..."

He stopped and glanced at Aarch who was looking at him quizzically

"I have something to confess….I read your diary, I am so sorry……" Rocket said looking down at his feet.

"I see," Aarch said looking a bit stunned "I had forgotten about that diary."

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have read it but I did" Rocket said looking away.

"I guess we need to talk then" Aarch said slowly "I suppose you need some questions answering."

They went to Aarch's living room, leaving the shopping still out on the table in the kitchen.

"Did you read it all?" Aarch asked.

"Yes, but it stopped the day before the explosion which caused the ice-age" Rocket said trying to speak calmly.

"After the ice-age, I just couldn't write, it's still kind of hard to talk about especially considering the way that I abandoned the planet to play for the shadows" he said the memories flooding back to him.

"You and Artegor, you aren't still…..?" Rocket enquired tentatively.

"No, he never forgave me after I left the shadows, he took it personally" he said remembering the way Artegor had repeated the words "Don't let me down" over and over, when he had been in rehabilitation those words had haunted him.

"And Adium? She can't have been happy you left Akillian"

"She wasn't," Aarch replied "She screamed at me calling me a rubbish boyfriend, I reminded her that she had blackmailed me but you know what she said? She said that she just used that so that it wasn't awkward for us to get together. She then proceeded to say that she was just bluffing with the secret thing and had no idea what it was I was trying to hide" he said laughing bitterly.

"Did anyone ever find out?" Rocket asked with concern in his voice.

"You are the only person who knows, apart from Artegor and myself, I never even told Norata" he said grimly.

"I won't tell anyone I swear!" Rocket said earnestly.

"Thank you Rocket" Aarch said, getting up to leave.

"But Aarch?" Rocket said suddenly, knowing he'd never get another chance to ask.

"Yes Rocket?" he said turning to face him.

"What about now? Do you ever wish that you could be with Artegor now?"

Aarch just turned away and walked from the room.

**And that's the end! Thank you to all my reviewers! Please review and tell me what you think overall!**


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